Hold your Hand || Johnny Cade x Reader

⚡ not your fault ⚡

[Y/N] hadn't been expecting guests first thing in the morning.

She'd been planning on sleeping - sleeping in as long as she could, until her body couldn't stand it any longer and the midday sun streamed through her thin curtains. And then she would stay busy all day... anything to forget about Billy, the more distracting the better.

But it was only nine am when her mother announced the visitors at the front door.

She'd stumbled out of bed, expecting it to be some girl-friends looking to go see a movie or something, and too tired to hope otherwise. She didn't particularly want to go out with friends, but it was something to do. Don't think about Billy. Don't remember-

Two boys had been standing there; the first was too old for her to have seen around, but she recognized the second. "Ponyboy?"

They'd explained the situation, but of course she'd already known. And they'd finished by telling her why,  exactly, they were there: "Johnny wants to see ya... Do you think you could come by?"

But she was already out the door. Johnny wanted to see her. Johnny had asked to see her. She hadn't known how to feel about it... Hadn't known what she did feel. Thrilled, then excited. Then nervous.

Then terrified.

They'd barely talked on the way there, and she hadn't known what to expect when she entered the house. It felt urgent. Hurry, hurry, is he okay?

But when she'd opened the door, she'd slowed. Scared of what she'd see. Surely it couldn't be that bad... But it wasn't the injuries she was scared of. It was... just Johnny.

And then when she'd seen him and had looked so scared and hurt she'd had no choice but to wrap her arms around him, to bury her face in the front of his t-shirt because she wanted him to feel better, and she wanted to be the one to make him feel better. He'd stiffened, and then relaxed into her- and then, even after a few seconds, when she was sure she'd gotten her point across, she didn't feel like letting go. Strangely enough, it suddenly wasn't just for him, because each moment in his arms was making her feel alright, too. His hand had settled tentatively on the back of her head, and it'd sent a soft jolt through her body. And it was only when the thrill started to evaporate that she noticed the deafening silence... and then she remembered Ponyboy, and Darrel, and everyone else she'd seen when she walked in. She brought herself to pull away from him, and just looked at him. If it were anyone else, she may have felt sick with shame. But it was Johnny, and that made it all okay. Johnny, her friend. Who she'd hugged because he was a friend, not because of how much grease he put in his hair or how much money he had.

She'd found tears in her eyes; they'd swept over Johnny's face, and paused on the most prominent bruise. How dare he? How dare Billy do this to him- again? She placed one hand on it, and he flinched; her fingers twitched as she realized what he was doing, but his head moved a millimeter, leaning into her hand.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't look into his eyes, and touch his face, and rest in his arms, and pretend to be just a friend who cared. So instead she pulled her hand away and stepped back and pretended to survey the house.

"So... this is Ponyboy's house?" Her attention was back on Johnny, but she'd composed herself- it was just a friendly inquiry, and Johnny, naturally, was just a friend.

"Yeah," Johnny replied. "Yeah, and these are my friends. My... gang." He'd settled on the couch; she perched next to him. "Well... ya gonna introduce me?"

Johnny blinked. "Well, um, okay." He looked up, and coughed, and leaned forward. "Uh, there's Two-Bit. That's what everyone calls him."

[Y/N] nodded politely.